We are delighted that you would like to come to church to
mark the birth of your child. We offer two different services at St
Mary’s that may be of interest to you, Thanksgiving and Baptism. There is
no charge for either service.
Thanksgiving
The service of thanksgiving provides an important
opportunity for you to say ‘thank you’ to God for your son or daughter.
During the service, we will ask you to ‘name’ your child and
we will pray for God’s blessing to be upon them. We will also give you a
certificate and a children’s Bible or book to mark the occasion.
We would like to encourage you to hold the service as
part of our main morning service at St Mary’s, on Sundays at 11am, when the
whole church family has an opportunity to welcome you and your child. But if
you would prefer, it is usually possible to arrange a thanksgiving
service for another time that suits you and your family, for example on a
Sunday afternoon.
If you decide to have a thanksgiving service, you will still
have the option to hold a baptism service for your child at a later date if you
wish, once you have had the opportunity to consider all that baptism entails.
Baptism
Baptism is also known as ‘Christening’ (both words mean
the same thing).
At baptism you promise to raise your child in the Christian
faith and to help them follow Jesus as a member of a local church.
Baptism therefore marks one of the most important stages in a person’s
life - child or adult – and so we want to be able to help you prepare
for it.
When do baptisms take place?
At St Mary’s we conduct baptisms in our main Sunday morning
service at 11am.
One of the reasons we hold baptisms in our main service is
because baptism is a sign that your child has become a member of God’s
worldwide family and part of our local church. During the service, the
congregation will therefore welcome you and your child into the family of the
church at St Mary’s. The congregation will also be asked to make promises
to help your child to be brought up in the Christian faith at St Mary’s.
What do I have to say?
During the service, you and your child’s godparents will be
asked some questions in which you will all declare your Christian faith before
God and in front of the congregation and promise to help to bring up your child
to follow Jesus. It is therefore important that you think seriously about
whether you feel ready to make these promises. Before the baptism takes place,
we will show you the questions, explain what they mean and be happy to answer
any questions you might have.
How do I choose Godparents?
We suggest that you choose three godparents. Two
should be the same sex as your child and one of the other sex. Having said
that, parents often choose two godfathers and two godmothers, and that is fine.
Think carefully about your choice of godparents, as their
role is an important and responsible one. Choose people you trust to take
an interest in your child’s spiritual welfare and to pray for them. They,
like you, will be asked to make public declarations of their Christian faith in
the service and so it is important that they feel able to do
so. As a result, it is important to choose godparents who are
Christians.
All godparents, and ideally both parents, should
themselves already be baptised.
Worshipping at St Mary’s
We want you to be sure that St Mary’s will be the right
place for your child to be baptised, and for you and your family to belong
to. Worshipping with us on Sundays enables you to begin to get to
know us, and give us the chance to get to know you. That is important
because the promises made in the baptism service will involve us all. We
would therefore strongly encourage you to use the weeks leading up to the
baptism to start coming regularly to St Mary’s. That will hopefully make
the day all the more special when it arrives.